Black Water
by Nozidoz
Summary: His perfectly serious face melted into an emotionless haze. Blue. Battered. Wet. Cold." R
1. Three Strikes

**A/N: Okay. First Criminal Minds Fanfic. Don't hate me. I am angsty. And I love Hotchner. Plus, this is based off of a dream I had. It was crazy. So I thought I'd share it with you.**

**Don't know if I'll continue with this. Depends on if you like it. I may make it a story.**

**No, I don't own anyone or anything. I wish. I really do.**

**Enjoy.**

**R&R**

_xxx_

**. Black Water .**

**by**

**. LabrynLaroo .**

**Prologue: _Three Strikes_**

One bullet.

Two bullets.

Three bullets.

He fell.

Like an aged oak tree, the man fell to the ground slowly, his limbs cracking downward into his demise. It seemed endless, jagged, like an old theatre piece. Black and white, fuzzy, not everything crystal clear but with just enough vigor to slowly piece the puzzle back together.

Her hands didn't shake. Not yet. Not as she squeezed the Glock 22 firmly in her experienced hands.

She knew she couldn't put her guard down. Not just yet. Rossi still hadn't cleared the scene. As far as she was concerned, she was to keep her eyes, and barrel, locked onto the unsub who was drowning into the cold darkness that surrounded him.

_'Stay down,' _she hissed to herself, narrowing her dark eyes when, for just a moment, she had thought the body moved. Luckily it was just a spasm, or perhaps even just the running water from the creak pressing against his body. Either way, he was visibly vacant. Dead. All thanks to her.

It all seemed like an eternity. The smoke from the gun still reached upward, the thunderous boom echoing further into the woods, and the only sound seemed to be the trickling water scream from Rossi's thrashing.

She shifted her glance, catching the more experienced agent battering through the water, reaching the body. The second body.

_His_ body.

'_Oh God…'_ she whimpered, almost unable to remove her stare from David's livid movements. His face was heavy with anguish, worry beaming from his eyes. He seemed lost, unable to function right. He was at a loss. He was in pain.

Wasn't she?

Emily couldn't remember feeling anything. She was frozen in place; gun still pointed at the unsub, but her eyes locked upon Rossi and the second body.

Rossi reached down low, curling his thick arms underneath the other body, yanking it out of the water and mud.

It looked quite strenuous; nevertheless, he managed to keep a tight hold and continued dragging them both onto drier land.

"Emily!"

She blinked, feeling a slight pinch to her chest. Looking over, she caught Rossi's attention. He was booming out her name, over and over again. Hadn't she noticed?

"Give me some help!" He roared, unable to lift the body out of the pool. Mud smudged the sides of the pond, making it easy for them to slip right back into the ice cold water.

The slow stream of reality seemed to have jolted her to the fast paced present. Her heart was beating faster and faster, cold sweat forming on her clammy skin. She nodded hesitantly and holstered her gun.

"He's heavy, watch it, watch it!" Dave yelped, trying to push the body into her arms before he slipped backwards.

She grabbed the body by the chest quickly, grunting slightly as she leaned herself backwards, falling onto the squishy ground; A lifeless body on top.

"I got him!" She cried, trying to scooch backwards even more, but his weight made it difficult. Rossi nodded, quickly treading out of the water himself, and onto mud and grass.

"Let me see him," He rasped, slipping down to his knees, leaning over her.

Emily nodded without a word. She was barely able to clarify what had just happened. It was so fast. So unexpected. So wrong.

All she could manage was to straighten out the limp body, holding his head in her lap. She hadn't even noticed her fingers caressing through his black hair.

She looked down.

There was his face.

His perfectly serious face melted into an emotionless haze. Blue. Battered. Wet. Cold.

"Aaron? Aaron, you need to wake up. Open your eyes!" Rossi pleaded, frowning even more with the lack of response.

Emily began to shake.

"He's blue," She mumbled, glancing at his lips.

"I know," Rossi added, agitated. He was just as unstable as she was.

"God," he hissed, "…no pulse," he added after inspecting Hotch. "We need help."

He placed his fingers on the speaker dial, calling into the earpiece as he pushed Emily from beneath him and settled himself to begin resuscitating. Emily moved backward, sitting on her knees, her hands cupping Aaron's face so that it was facing straight.

"Where is our backup? We need an ambulance-Now! We have an officer down!" He glanced at Aaron, cringing as the beatings became more and more vibrant.

"I repeat, officer down!!"

_xxx_

**A/N: So…pretty 'dramatic'. Just tell me what you think. Want more out of it? Or more stories? Let me know. It's late. I'm sick (with the flu). I just wanted to write something. It's been awhile. **


	2. Doubting Disease

**A/N: Wow! Okay, first of all, thank you SO much for the reviews. I'm surprised I got any. I mean, well, thank you very much. I appreciate your excitement over the little piece. And I apologize for not giving you anything else in quite some time. I was debating how I wanted to do this. So, I'm trying my best to make it as awesome as I can. **

**Thank you.**

**So much!**

***hugs***

**(Yes, I did change the title of the story. The previous title, 'Wet', just seemed so..Awkward to me. ;-p)**

**Also, no, I don't own anything. I wish.**

. Black Water .

**by**

**. LabrynLaroo.**

Chapter One:

Doubting Disease

xxx

_Beeezp._

_Beezzzpp._

_Beezzp._

The repetitive buzzing of her phone seemed to have disappeared time after time. The vibrations shook against the wood desktop, bouncing the silver cell from beneath her fingertips.

She didn't notice, not at first. Perhaps by the fifth call did Jennifer Jareau finally peek through her heavy lids and glance toward the trembling phone.

Jolting upright, and cringing from the sudden spike of discomfort, JJ grasped her cell and pulled it close to her watery eyes.

The dulled screen beamed with sudden light when her fingers pressed against the keys. She shrugged. Definitely not the call she was expecting, but still, she pressed 'TALK' after briefly glancing at the number and introduced herself with a weary "Hello?"

"Took you long enough to answer!" JJ shrugged at the voice griping from the other line.

"Sorry, I didn't even realize that I was out of it," She said, her voice half mused. The musing feeling didn't last long though.

"Well, have you heard anything? Anything at all?" His voice came back nervous, twitchy, and probably matched his body language too. JJ only shook her head, starring out into Aaron's black office, dreading her answer.

"JJ?"

"No, Reid, I haven't heard anything yet…" She could hear his breathing cut to a sharp silence. The pain in his face was so vivid in her imagination. All she wanted to do was reach through the static and hug his feeble frame.

"But," She interjected quickly, afraid of what the silence was doing to him, "That doesn't mean something's gone wrong, okay?" Not much of a relief, really. But JJ knew she had to say something. With Reid, she recently felt a need to be optimistic. Was that so bad?

"Doesn't mean he's gonna make it, either…" Her shoulders dropped, as well as her hope for pulling through this awkward conversation.

"Look, Spence, I know you're worried-hey, we all are, but he's going to be okay. This is Hotch we're talking about. He's going to be O-K."

There was nothing but heavy breathing.

Stuttering, pitiful breathing…

Was he crying?

JJ couldn't help but clasp a hand over her mouth. She regretted saying anything at all, because at this point, did it really matter? What she said, was it true? Would he pull through? No, no of course he would. He was very strong, and completely capable of bringing himself out of this mess.

But…

It was becoming harder and harder to avoid the severe risk of loosing him.

She heard it in Prentiss's voice, and now in Reid's. Were Aaron's chances of making it really that slim?

"Spencer, are you okay?" She finally asked, letting her hand slowly slide toward her warm forehead. Reid mumbled in reassurance, and finally picked up on the conversation.

"I'm just worried, that's all. I mean, Morgan and I haven't had a chance to see him yet...and it's just…well, it's irritating." Reid didn't mean to sound so at loss, but it was true. Morgan and he were the only two who hadn't been able to see him. Prentiss was there, along with Rossi-and Garcia had carpooled with JJ earlier, before Erin Strauss had sent the two of them back to the BAU.

"But you will. Don't worry Reid, he will still be there."

"You don't know that."

JJ found herself caught in silence. Reid sounded so doubtful. She knew that now more than ever. He hadn't even seen him, or heard the whole report yet and already Reid was set on the fact that Aaron _could_ be no more.

It made her sad.

And it made her sick to her stomach.

"H-hey, I gotta go," He added, "Morgan needs me. I'll call you back-but answer the first time, okay?" And without waiting for her goodbye, Reid had hung up.

All Jennifer could do was sit there, in Aaron's chair. The cold black office smeared away reality, while the phone's blunt dial tone echoed further and further away. As she zoned out, Aaron's face zoomed in. She felt exactly the same way she did when she first walked into the hospital, glancing at his body through the window.

He arms and legs were incredibly white, while his ashen face was bludgeoned with black and purple bruises. There were dozens of cuts and gashes, with a particularly large one that stretched from his left brow to his ear. His fingertips were blue, as well as his busted lip.

He looked awful.

Worse than awful.

But he was alive, even if just barely.

JJ's body jerked backward suddenly, waking her when a soft hand had pinched her right shoulder. Gazing upward, Jennifer caught Penelope's frowning face.

"Wow, you really _were_ zonked out," Garcia noted, smiling when JJ's face burned bright red.

"I'm sorry," She apologized, scratching the side of her head nervously. "It's just been a really bad day." Garcia nodded, and took a seat on the edge of Aaron's desk, after moving a few of his personal belongings to the side.

"Yeah, well, that's mostly why I came to see you. Figured the two of us ladies _really_ don't need to be alone right now. Guess I was right," She smiled, giving JJ a soft wink. "You look pretty crummy," Garcia said, knowing that just about everyone shared the same look of extreme anxiety.

"Gee, thanks. You look splendid yourself," JJ added, but nodded after letting a moment of silence separate the playfulness from actuality.

"Hey, it's been like a long time since we've actually consumed anything into our bodies," Garcia stood quickly, rubbing out the wrinkles from her orange and pink skirt, "_Sooo_, why don't we grab some grub before we pass out from malnutrition?"

JJ chuckled slightly and gestured with a nod in agreement.

The two of them left Aaron's office, but not before glancing around, as if perhaps this was their last chance to look into his little world. His authority and privileges pierced the walls, while his character and fatherly personality decorated the large oak desk.

It was almost heart breaking to leave the office, but JJ and Garcia both knew that spending a little extra time away from the BAU would be exceptionally beneficial.

The two headed for the parking garage, chatting mildly, trying to cheer each other up with just enough flavor to distract them from Aaron, and redirect their minds to restaurant hunting. Their hopeful attempts to divert, however, failed immediately at the sound of JJ's phone ring once again.

xxx

**A/N: Okay, so long and boring-forgive me. I wasn't sure what to do with the second chapter. I was sooo tempted to just rush into more action, but I felt like we needed a slightly calmer, more emotional side first. I'm trying to figure out the best way to write this out. So sorry if its super long and boring. Tips, ideas or theories would be wonderful. I'd love to hear what you think about what you think might have happened, or-uh, anything really. Reviews are waaaay appreciated and loved. THANKS!**


	3. Downward

**A/N: okay, I officially LOVE you guys. Every single one of you who read and reviewed this story. I'm so happy. Yay! I feel cool now. SOO sorry this took me forever to update. Next chapter should be up MUCH sooner. But again, no promises. Lol Anyway, hope this one isn't too long or confusing, but if it is, do share in a comment. ^-^ **

**American, Pippin-HUGS!!!! **

**Everyone else, cookiesss!!!! 3**

**Disclaimer: Noo, I don't own anyone. GAH, I wish I did. I would be cuddling Hotchner as if he were a chibi pillow! Or a kitty or something. OOOh! He'd be a cute kitty. Bad Gabby, BAD! Ahem….eh….enjoy**

**. Black Water .**

**by**

**. LabrynLaroo . **

**. Chapter Two: Downward .**

The windowpane was cold.

Of course, that same unsettling impression seemed to have dwelled in every nook and crevice within the hospital.

Unfortunately, complaining about the temperature or the disturbing ambiance of the whole building wasn't much of a distraction for Prentiss. Everything fell back to last night. Nothing she had heard or had seen was enough to mop away what had happened only six hours prior.

Did she blame herself?

Every ounce of her being seemed to have formed into one collected answer= Yes.

Why?

'_Because you let him leave, stupid! You let him just walk out there alone…'_

"Prentiss?"

Once again, it was as if she hadn't even heard Rossi call out her name. But he didn't stop calling her nonetheless.

Turning, with slight surprise, she noticed him standing at her side, two cups of steaming coffee in his hands.

"For me?" She asked, achieving her answer when the older agent had placed the warm cup between her fingers.

"Thank you…" He gave her a small nod, and then took a sip from his own.

The small silence crawled at the back of her neck, sending the tiny black hairs to stand on end. Or, at least that's what it felt like. It was probably more like a massive attack of super-goosebumps.

"So," He tried to break the stillness, "I suppose you haven't heard anything else yet?" He asked, pulling his eyes from hers, toward the window. She just shook her head.

"Well, I guess they'll tell us something eventually…"

"Now would be nice. I hate just standing here…doing nothing…" Rossi, again, nodded.

The amount of exhaustion was clearly visible upon her face. Weariness drooped from her eyes, where, extensive guilt seemed to reside. Her skin was pale, though her nose and cheeks were quite pink. Frizzing hair seemed to fly out of the chaotic ponytail, tangling ruthlessly at the tips. Rossi even noted several shivering spasms every now and again.

She looked awful.

Well…

So did he.

"Emily," His right hand reached for her muddied shoulder, "Maybe you should go find someplace to rest, because, well…honestly you look pretty beat."

She hadn't quite thought about it, the way she looked anyway. Sure, she was caked in mud, her pants still slightly damp, and her eye makeup smearing away, but did her appearance really matter right now? No. She understood where he was coming from though. After all, she was tired, she was irritated, she was hungry, and quite freezing.

Sleep sounded pretty good actually.

But as soon as she had turned back around to face the window, the very notion of rest seemed to have disappeared along with any comfort.

Because there _He_ was…

…Lying comatose in some hospital bed…

…With a young nurse plucking out yet another shard of chipped glass from his thigh.

Any trace of an appetite had seemed to deform into much unneeded nausea. Both of them only stood there, holding their chilling beverage, as they watched the nurse plant the bloodied shard into a pan, along with the others.

"That's the fourth one they've pulled," She informed, rather involuntarily too. "And there's likely to be more," Her shoulders rose in a quiver, and then dropped once again.

"Maybe now would be a good time to talk about what you remember," His voice seemed slightly muffled. But David knew that distractions, right now, were a must.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, taken back a bit by his interruption. "I told you everything already."

"I know, I know," his hand lifted, gesturing for her to calm down.

"But I want to know what you felt, heard, saw, smelt-everything. Not just facts. The more we run through it, the more help we will be to Morgan and Reid."

She nodded, and finally lifted the cup to her lips, sipping at the coffee slowly.

Scrunching up her nose, Emily let her tongue slide out abruptly as she pulled the drink away. "Eck, cold. Not so tasty." He chuckled, but reached out and took the cup from her.

"Sorry…" She muttered, slightly embarrassed about wasting his gift.

"Don't be," He added, and quickly discarded both cups.

"Now, why don't we start from the very beginning."

**xxx **

"Hey! I said be careful."

"Sorry!"

Reid shrunk his body slightly, trying to hide his embellished gawking from the perceptibly irritated Morgan. Having nearly tripped down a pretty steep ditch, which would led to falling face first in a concoction of shriveled leaves and pebbled mud, he had to admit that he was thankful for the heads-up, or simply counting the multiple times that Morgan expressed concern for him. He was aware of the concern and care they all felt for each other, but Reid always was fascinated by the unremitting expression of such affection.

This was a good family, he often thought, and never would he trade it for any other 'work-related-family' in the entire world. And he was pretty sure they all felt the same way, despite a few loved ones branching off of that tree.

"This is ridiculous," Morgan hissed, stepping over a pile of broken twigs resting against a few rocks. "The entire wood is a mess," his hands quickly locked to his sides. "This will take forever, if we can actually find anything at all!"

Reid's body jittered vaguely. He wanted to say something, anything, to persuade him-but somehow, the only response he expected to get would be somewhere along the lines of 'NEGATIVE'.

"Why'd we come this way?" He drilled, frustration building each time he opened his mouth. "How do we even know Hotch came this way?" Looking around, Morgan swore that nothing visible in the present chaos could possibly connect the dots. Mud smudged and the leaves blanketed. It was a whirlwind of dead nature, and with everything scattered, it seemed impossible to find the trail that Hotch had been dragged.

Wait, _what?_

"Look, there, right there!" Reid almost burst with relief and triumph. Pointing downward, Reid traced out what looked like a trail-something large enough to be a body-Hotch's?

_Damn!_

How did he miss that?

Maybe the whole situation, with Hotch being rigorously beaten, was affecting his profiling?

Derek shook his head, as if expecting that to somehow clear out the clouded conflict. It didn't, but at least he was willing to put it behind him. Right now he needed to get his head in the game. Hotch needed him.

"It's heading east of the cabin," Morgan called first, and bent downward to get a better look at the slithering trail.

"How far are we from the cabin already, Reid?" He asked, glancing up at the grinning genius.

"Approximately 10572 feet east of the Cabin and the creek," Reid calculated, "Little over two miles?" Morgan finally stood.

"So what? These tracks lead somewhere else, but not the cabin? How'd Hotch get from wherever this leads," He pointed past the trail, "To the cabin, and then the creek, two miles east?"

Reid only needed seconds to determine some sort of scenario, hoping that one of them would be the more accurate assumption. Still, as of now, Reid was more interested in knowing where this trail led to. Perhaps it would explain why Hotch was dragged at all. Maybe even who, or why.

"Well, what if the unsub decides to carry him to the cabin, once he got close enough?" Reid's hands curled at his chin, a few fingers playing with his lips. "To help prevent detection of the cabin." Morgan arched a brow. "Plus, the unsub was a pretty big guy, easily able to lift an unconscious man for a short distance." He stopped, holding onto the thought that had crossed his mind.

'_And beat the living hell out of him too…'_

"Okay, but two miles is a bit of a stretch, Reid, even for some giant wrestler wannabe" He took a few steps forward, now standing at Reid's side, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a good hold.

"But nice try."

Reid's enthusiasm dropped quickly, sinking with his bony shoulders, and sleepy eyes.

"Well, at least it explained the lack of a trail near the cabin," He added, catching sight of Morgan's irritable head-shake.

"C'mon man, let's just follow the trail and see where it goes…"

Reid nodded and let his calloused and cold fingers sink into the pockets of his brown trousers as he skipped over piles of rock and bush, trying to reach Morgan's side.

Half-an-hour passed easily as they continued to wander. Morgan's frustration kept bottling up. Each time he swore they found something irregular in the trail pattern, it ended up being irrelevant. It drove him crazy. All of it! The cold, the wet, the lack of any human evidence. The lack of ANY evidence.

Reid, at least, was trying to keep positive.

Carefully he examined the trail, noting the thickness, whether or not it looked like there could have been a struggle. With his eyes constantly downward, however, and Morgan's mind being focused on physical evidence, it was no surprise when the whiz kid finally made another stumble.

"Hey Morgan," he called out, leaning most of his weight on his left leg. "Looks like the trails ends here…" Lifting his head, Reid felt the sudden lack of balance corrupt his stance. Staggering across the ground, his ankle managed to snag itself between some large branches and a few large rocks, sending him backwards.

"Jeez!" Morgan growled, lurching forward, and curled his fingers around the back of Reid's shirt, holding him there.

"Watch where you're going, man! We don't need anyone else in the hospital, alright?" Reid nodded, trying to swallow his embarrassment sheepishly.

Morgan let go finally, leaving Reid to smooth out the creases made in his shirt from the tight fist. Once again, the concern was appreciated, but now he just felt a bit…in the way.

"You really could have hurt yourself, man…" Morgan repeated, but only as he leaned up against the large rocks that seemed to have encircled some sort of ditch. A big ditch, too.

"Oh my god…"

Reid quickly shot a curious stare.

"What? What is it?"

But the questions didn't matter. Within a matter of seconds, Reid had nudged closer, peeking over the tops of the gray rocks, only to see, not a ditch, but a graveyard.

"Reid, call Rossi, now!"

**xxx**

_**Next Chapter: 'Backward' **_

**A/N: Oooh, I do just love to end my chapters on a suspenseful note. Hahaha. Sorry, if it gets annoying, I do apologize. I can't help it.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Long, I know, I just hope it was worth reading. Once again, I would LOVE to read what you think. Feedback, theories, ideas-concerns, please let me know. I'm only trying to improve this story the best I can, and I need your input to do so successfully.**

**Um. Yeah. I'll try my hardest to update A LOT sooner. But this chapter really makes it easy for me to write the other one, so I'm not too worried. **

**Whoo!!**


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